T H E C O V E N A N T E R
infantry battalions formed of U-boat crews caused much anguish was the increasing
and Luftwaffe personnel. Christie was contact with the horrifying spectacle of
saddened, as he recalled, by the bodies of the Concentration Camps, coupled with
the boy-soldiers of the Hitler Youth and the the flood of weakened refugees, many of
old men of the Volksturm: there was no them deportee labour to escape South and
denying their courage and tenacity, but the hoping for an eventual return to their
tragic waste of human life was disturbing, homeland. And increasingly, as the war
particularly to anyone as sensitive as he was. drew to an end, Allied POWs struggled to
Two other factors affected the Cameronian safety through the lines. It was all stark
Battalion and indeed all the Allied troops. evidence of the brutality of war. With
The first was the awareness that the limited resources there was little a fighting
final German collapse and surrender was unit could do to assist these victims; it was
inevitable, possibly only a few weeks away. a depressing experience. By early May, they
It was a situation in which the battle- were assisting in the clearing of pockets
weary soldiers were increasingly unwilling of SS troops from the Sachsenwald Forest,
to take unnecessary risks - although the when VE Day arrived.
For eleven bitter months, from the
Normandy beaches to the Baltic, the 9th
Cameronians had fought, almost without
pause, an experience which left its scars on
the minds of many. Fyffe Christie always
maintained that the drawings he made at
any opportunity during the campaign were
not just art but a defence mechanism, a
therapy, which helped him maintain his
sanity. Prior to the First World War few
painters of note showed the horrors of war;
the nation’s galleries are stuffed with vast
canvasses seeking to glorify the battlefield,
painted long after the events they claim
to portray. From the Great War onwards,
‘official’ and servicemen artists began to
reflect the reality of war, often focussing
on its horror. This collection in the Centre,
of Fyffe Christie’s work is of a different
ilk, a compelling record of one man’s war:
these, for the most part, carefully observed
landscapes are remarkable for their artistic
skill; and they are particulary remarkable
for their trying circumstances in which this
gentle and shy fellow produced them. That
is how I remembered him.”
(Thanks are due to a number of sources which
helped in the factual details of his writing. In
Cameronians continued to take punishing particular to Mr Terry McKenzie, Museums
casualties as they crossed the River Elbe. Collection Officer of the Leisure Services Unit
To replace them, the reinforcements were at South Lanarkshire Council, who, after the
no longer veteran Scots but a mixture of closure of the Cameronians Museum has taken
troops from other regiments, notably anti- on the task of maintaining historical records of
aircraft gunners who had previously been a fine regiment.)
defending British cities. As infantry, they
fought bravely, but the family structure Eleanor Christie-Chatterly
of the Battalion which had stood them
in good stead in past engagements was
I am very grateful to Ted Allan for his
weakened; Christie remembered wryly that
research and for his kind comments about
many of the new intake were not greatly
Fyffe Christie. To me Fyffe was a charming
pleased when the pipers got some needed
and generous husband, an interesting and
practice during the infrequent rest periods
amusing companion whose good nature
out of the line. The second factor which
and cheerful disposition carried us through

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